Chapter 65: Returning to the Parents' Home, Head Held High

Wu Ping said cheerfully, "Mom and Dad, these aren't something we bought."

"It's my younger brother."

"That kid has learned well now; he goes out fishing every day. Look, these two fish are what he caught, and they're still lively."

"All this food and drink, he paid for it too."

"Me and Yueqin, we just made this trip."

The old couple listened, stunned.

Has that brat learned well?

Mei Donghai pointed at the hanging salted fish and said, "I was just about to have Xiao Wu deliver them after getting them ready, but I didn't expect you to bring us fish to eat."

"Grouper fish, this can fetch a good price."

"We don't need to eat such good fish; selling it for money would be better."

Mei Yueqin hurriedly said, "Mom and Dad, no need."

"Let me tell you, A An has really learned well."

"He sends seafood home every day; we can't finish eating it all."

"If we can't finish the salted fish, we can sell it and you'll have extra income."

Speaking of which, together with Wu Ping we moved all the food and drink from the carriage down and placed them in the east room.

Mei Donghai asked, "Quickly tell me."

"How exactly did that kid learn?"

"He's not just fooling people, is he?"

It's not that he has anything against Wu An; it's really that Wu An is too much of a scoundrel—on the road, upon meeting Xiao Wu, he can lie and cheat money out of him; if they hadn't stopped him, Xiao Wu would have already run to Xixi Village to settle scores with Wu An.

Mei Yueqin moved a stool to sit down and said, "No."

"He doesn't rest a bit, going fishing even on rainy days."

"His luck isn't bad either; he's made several thousand over this period."

"He's even hired people to fix up the old house at home, and said he wants to buy a fishing boat and build a new house."

As she spoke, Mei Yueqin's face was full of smiles.

The couple looked at the food and drink in the house, then at the still-flopping grouper in the basin, and they laughed too: "Good, good, good."

"It looks like this child has become sensible and enlightened."

"From now on, your life can be a bit easier."

The old woman grasped Mei Yueqin's hand, her face full of relief.

Noon.

Mei Yueqin helped cook; the old couple didn't want to cook the two groupers, insisting the two take them home, but then they brought out Wu An again, making the excuse that if they took the fish back Wu An would get angry, so the old couple finally took out one to cook.

"Mom and Dad, this fish is nutritious; eat more of it."

"Also remember to take those supplements, but don't let them expire."

After eating, sitting and drinking tea while chatting, the conversation inevitably turned to Wu An again.

Mei Donghai took a sip of tea and asked, "Has the Chen family matter been settled?"

Mei Yueqin shook her head.

Mei Donghai sighed and said, "Otherwise I could go help speak up; the Chen family ought to give me some face."

"Back then he was also a cadre of the production team; now naturally he's retired and just an ordinary villager, but in the village he still has some face."

Wu Ping hurriedly said, "Dad, please don't."

"I've asked A An, and he says he can handle this matter well."

"He's changed a lot now, he also has ideas; besides, this matter originally came from him, so since he wants to handle it himself, let him give it a try."

"All right." Mei Donghai paused, then said, "Although he's working now, after all he's young; you, as his older brother and sister-in-law, should still help him out."

Wu Ping nodded.

Mei Yueqin didn't say anything either; she had long treated Wu An as her eldest son.

The old woman said, "Having a sense of responsibility is good; this is gaining wisdom after suffering a loss."

Mei Yueqin smiled and said, "Mom, I actually wanted to ask if there's a suitable girl in our village; I'd like to help the second son find a match."

"Well..." the old woman found it difficult: "Your younger brother-in-law is notorious in the village; even if there's an age-appropriate girl, they probably wouldn't want to hear about it."

"Better to wait a bit longer."

"It's not that Wu An's bad reputation is that big; it's because the village spreads the story that Mei Yueqin married into the Wu family in Xixi Village and suffered hardship."

"So people are just curious why that would be."

"Once you inquire further, it's naturally known that Wu An is a good-for-nothing."

"In this countryside, there are no walls that don't let the wind through."

"In these villages, everyone has married in or out; everywhere are relatives."

"One tells ten, ten tells a hundred; even whatever nonsense Wu An has said gets passed around clearly."

Mei Yueqin still wanted to say something, but Wu Ping interjected, "Mom's makes sense."

"Wait until A An shows some results before we talk about this."

"If we bring it up now, they'll surely think we're spouting nonsense to trick a girl into jumping into a fire pit."

Just as Wu Ping finished speaking, a voice came from the doorway: "It really has to be a People's Teacher with correct worldviews."

"Yueqin, everyone in our village knows how poor Xixi Village is, and what your in-laws' situation is."

"You yourself have suffered hardship, yet you still want to drag others along to share it?"

The speaker was the neighbor Chen Lin, about the same age as Mei Yueqin, seeking a son-in-law; it's worth mentioning that she and Chen Long are cousins from the same great-grandfather, a rather distant relation.

Besides her, there were a few other villagers who came to visit.

Mei Yueqin and Wu Ping were both a little embarrassed, not knowing how to retort.

It's not just looking down on others with a dog's eye; some people's eyelids are just that shallow.

Back then, Mei Yueqin and Wu Ping fell in love freely and she married into the Wu family; many people were extremely envious.

Since outsiders saw the Wu family's conditions as good—Wu Ping was a teacher, his father‑in‑law a village cadre—marrying into it, if not making them rich and noble, at least guaranteed a life not worse than anyone else's.

In the end the Wu family ran a deficit, life became very hard, and they occasionally had to rely on the Mei family for support; gradually the villagers learned this, and many laughed behind their backs.

Chen Lin was different; she mocked them to their faces, and every time Mei Yueqin returned to her natal home, she always made a few sarcastic remarks.

"Let me see what you took from your natal home this time?" she said, lifting the plastic sheet in the carriage.

The others also turned to look, all with a "watching a joke" stance.

When they looked, there was nothing under the plastic sheet; the carriage was empty.

"Let them take some salted fish back, they won't take it," Mei Donghai said with a complaint on his lips, but his face bore a smile: "They say the house has fresh seafood they can't finish, so they sent over two live, hopping Grouper. The fresh sea fish is good, but the salted fish also has its own flavor."

"What? Fresh sea fish they can't finish?" Chen Lin wore a look of "don't lie to me": "Uncle Donghai, stop bragging; who doesn't know what kind of situation Yueqin's in‑law's family is."

The elder was waiting for her to say that, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she blurted out: "Yueqin's younger brother‑in‑law is now working, fishing at sea every day; not only can he earn money, but there's endless seafood every day."

"Look at this Grouper, alive and hopping; you can't buy it in the market for a hundred or two hundred. They sent it to us to taste, saying the fish is nutritious and good for the elderly's health."

"A prodigal's return can't be bought with gold…"

"There are also several nutritional supplements… can't finish drinking them, literally can't finish them…"

He jabbered on, leaving everyone stunned, wondering if this person could truly change his face in an instant.

Mei Yueqin and Wu Ping, though they disliked showing off, heard the elder couple's proclamation, and at least it could block the endless gossip, letting them hear fewer unpleasant rumors.

The two took advantage of the crowd's surprised pause, hit the throttle, and rode away on a tricycle.

Just after leaving the village, the two couldn't help but laugh, laughing heartily.

"Yueqin, I actually feel a sense of pride swelling in me…" Wu Ping said cheerfully.

Mei Yueqin recalled Chen Lin's incredulous expression, and laughed, "Who says it isn't?"

"Mom and dad are really something; anyway I can't say those words."

Wu Ping, with an admiring look, said, "No wonder Jiang is still sharp as old ginger."